Longview Partners Guernsey LTD Invests $467.94 Million in Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Key Points

• Longview Partners Guernsey LTD has acquired 1,743,717 shares of Salesforce Inc., valued at approximately $467.9 million, making Salesforce 3.8% of its investment portfolio.
• Salesforce reported earnings of $2.58 per share for the last quarter, surpassing analysts' expectations and showing a 7.6% increase in revenue year-over-year.
• Companies such as Brighton Jones LLC and Northern Trust Corp have increased their holdings in Salesforce, with 80.43% of the stock owned by institutional investors.

Longview Partners Guernsey LTD purchased a new stake in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 1,743,717 shares of the CRM provider's stock, valued at approximately $467,944,000. Salesforce makes up about 3.8% of Longview Partners Guernsey LTD's investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. Longview Partners Guernsey LTD owned about 0.18% of Salesforce at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CRM. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in Salesforce in the first quarter valued at about $2,039,196,000. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main increased its holdings in Salesforce by 926.4% in the fourth quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 4,256,211 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $1,422,979,000 after purchasing an additional 3,841,521 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 30,456.9% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,801,588 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $1,020,194,000 after acquiring an additional 3,789,147 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 18.3% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 11,224,927 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $3,752,830,000 after purchasing an additional 1,736,667 shares during the period. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Salesforce by 1,744.0% during the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,820,262 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $488,486,000 after acquiring an additional 1,721,550 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Salesforce Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of Salesforce stock traded up $1.84 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $256.37. The company's stock had a trading volume of 7,318,640 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,225,816. The company has a market capitalization of $245.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.37. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $257.43 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $270.14. Salesforce Inc. has a one year low of $226.48 and a one year high of $369.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.07.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.55 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $9.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.74 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 16.08% and a return on equity of 12.94%. The firm's revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.44 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 18th were given a dividend of $0.416 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 18th. This represents a $1.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.98%.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In other news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $257.02, for a total transaction of $578,295.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 11,911,571 shares in the company, valued at $3,061,511,978.42. The trade was a 0.02% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 59,327 shares of company stock valued at $15,201,738. 3.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on CRM. JMP Securities reissued a "market outperform" rating and issued a $430.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Citigroup reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday. Oppenheimer cut their price target on Salesforce from $370.00 to $315.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $340.00 to $385.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $300.00 to $260.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have given a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $340.43.

Salesforce Profile

Salesforce, Inc provides Customer Relationship Management (CRM) technology that brings companies and customers together worldwide. The company's service includes sales to store data, monitor leads and progress, forecast opportunities, gain insights through analytics and artificial intelligence, and deliver quotes, contracts, and invoices; and service that enables companies to deliver trusted and highly personalized customer support at scale.